Americans United - science standardshttps://www.au.org/tags/science-standards
enDavid v. Goliath: Louisiana Student Girds For Battle On Behalf Of Sound Sciencehttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/david-v-goliath-louisiana-student-girds-for-battle-on-behalf-of-sound
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A Louisiana high school senior is on a mission to save science education in his home state.</p>
<p>Zachary Kopplin, a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, wants to see the 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act repealed, and he’s working with state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) to garner support for a bill she plans to introduce in April that will do just that.</p>
<p>One of his first stops to rally the troops was the Darwin Day event put on by the Louisiana chapter of Americans United last weekend at a Unitarian church in Baton Rouge.</p>
<p>Kopplin <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/116139684.html">told the audience</a> the law is “embarrassing,” a characterization most civil liberties groups and scientists agree with.</p>
<p>When Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the measure back in 2008, Americans United <a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2008/07/eroding-evolutio.html">warned</a> that it was merely another attempt by creationists to slip fundamentalist religion into biology classes.</p>
<p>The law was pushed heavily by the Louisiana Family Forum (LFF), a Religious Right organization that promotes creationism and is an affiliate of the James Dobson-founded Focus on the Family. The measure allows teachers to introduce into the classroom “supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials” about evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning.</p>
<p>AU experts and our allies in the state knew the measure was made up of code language that would only serve to threaten the integrity of science education.</p>
<p>And sure enough, in November 2010, the LFF started to use the law to <a href="http://blog.au.org/2010/11/11/louisiana-alert-family-forum-is-targeting-the-science-curriculum/">chip away</a> at evolution and sound science standards by claiming the state’s biology textbooks give too much credibility to Darwin’s theory. Under the Science Education Act, they argued, science education must expand to include more than just the theory of evolution, but also “intelligent design,” the latest variant of creationism.</p>
<p>The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Textbook/Media/Library Advisory Council held a hearing to rule on these concerns. Kopplin <a href="http://richarddawkins.net/articles/548764-louisiana-school-science-your-support-needed-please">testified</a> in support of sound science textbooks.</p>
<p>“Louisiana students deserve to be taught proper science that will prepare us for success in the global economy,” he said. “Quite frankly, all the Louisiana Science Education Act does is create an unconstitutional loophole to sneak the teaching of creationism or intelligent design in public school science classes. When a school district does try to use this law for its intended purpose, it will quickly be shot down by the courts.</p>
<p>“So there is no need for this committee to try to jump ahead with such a costly and unproductive effort,” he continued, “one that will only embarrass our state and harm our students who need to be properly educated and well prepared for success in the global economy.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.repealcreationism.com/208/my-testimony-before-bese%E2%80%99s-textbookmedialibrary-advisory-council/">Concluded</a> Kopplin, “Please stand tall and endorse life science textbooks that teach real science rather than undermine it.”</p>
<p>Kopplin’s testimony and that of other supporters of sound science and church-state separation must have worked. The council voted 8-4 to recommend that the board adopt solid biology textbooks and disregard the LFF’s comments. In December, BESE followed through, <a href="http://blog.au.org/2010/12/10/victory-in-louisiana-state-ed-board-approves-sound-biology-textbooks/">voting</a> 8-2 to approve these textbooks.</p>
<p>The Baton Rouge <em>Advocate</em> <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/112530384.html">praised</a> Kopplin for taking on the fight against the LFF, which has the support of many influential people in the Louisiana political scene.</p>
<p>“It would have seemed, nevertheless, a mismatch: Young Kopplin’s earnest and articulate defense of science against the Family Forum, headed by the Rev. Gene Mills, one of the most powerful influences in the State Capitol these days,” the newspaper wrote. “But as when David met Goliath, the young man prevailed against the Philistines.”</p>
<p>We hope Kopplin will have the same positive effect on the Louisiana state legislature when the bill repealing the Science Education Act is introduced in April.</p>
<p>It’s great to see a high school student so engaged in civic affairs. Getting the Louisiana legislature to do the right thing won’t be easy. But it’s inspiring to see Kopplin’s determination.</p>
<p>Keep up the good work, Zack!</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religion-public-schools-and-universities">Religion in Public Schools and Universities</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/americans-united-louisiana-chapter">Americans United Louisiana Chapter</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ben-nevers">Ben Nevers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/creationism">creationism</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/evolution">evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gene-mills">Gene Mills</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gov-bobby-jindal">Gov. Bobby Jindal</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/intelligent-design">Intelligent Design</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana">louisiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana-family-forum">Louisiana Family Forum</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-public-schools-0">religion in the public schools</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/science-education-act">Science Education Act</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/science-standards">science standards</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/zachary-kopplin">Zachary Kopplin</a></span></div></div>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:16:38 +0000Sandhya Bathija2505 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/david-v-goliath-louisiana-student-girds-for-battle-on-behalf-of-sound#commentsPassing The Science Test: Texas School Board Derails Most Of Creationist Plot https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/passing-the-science-test-texas-school-board-derails-most-of-creationist
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Today seems to be a pretty good end to a very historical week -- at least on the church-state separation front.</p>
<p>This morning, the Texas State Board of Education voted 8-7 to approve science standards that leave out well-known creationist code language that could weaken science education.</p>
<p>A final vote is scheduled for March, but according to a report from the <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/012309dntswevolution.21013f4c.html"><em>Dallas News</em></a>, the board will likely ratify today's vote.</p>
<p>Religious Right forces wanted the standards to require that students be taught the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution. They hoped that phrasing would open the door to instruction that reflects fundamentalist Christian doctrines about the origins of man.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the creationist crusade fell short by one vote.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, creationists on the board were not completely routed. They still succeeded in pushing through an amendment that allowed students to discuss the "sufficiency or insufficiency" of common descent, a core concept of evolutionary biology.</p>
<p>Despite this setback, Dr. Eugenie C. Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), <a href="http://ncseweb.org/news/2009/01/weaknesses-removed-from-texas-science-standards-004231">declared</a> this first round of approval for new science standards as a win.</p>
<p>"The Board listened to its scientific advisors and rejected an attempt to insert 'weaknesses' back into the standards," said Scott. "They didn't, however, have time to talk to scientists about the creationist-inspired amendments made at the last minute. Once they do, I believe these inaccurate amendments will be removed."</p>
<p>For months, NCSE, the Texas Freedom Network, the 21st Century Science Coalition, Americans United and allied groups have been battling the Discovery Institute and other Religious Right forces that want to teach creationist concepts in the science classroom.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, we celebrated a mini-victory when the final curriculum proposal drafted by a teacher working group removed the "strengths and weaknesses" language.</p>
<p>Yet at the meeting yesterday, Board Member Cynthia Dunbar moved to put "strengths and weaknesses" back into the standards. She argued that the "strengths and weaknesses" language hadn't been challenged in two decades, according <a href="http://tfnblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/texas-sboe-science-debate/">TFN's live blog</a> from the meeting.</p>
<p>Dunbar, a law graduate of TV preacher Pat Robertson's Regent University (and author of One Nation Under God), urged the board not to follow recommendations from teachers and scientists.</p>
<p>These experts, she said, "are just some of the people" board members need to be listening to and her constituents wanted the language to remain. She accused opponents of "strengths and weaknesses" to be stifling the debate in the classroom.</p>
<p>"[Supporters of evolution] are afraid of what the weaknesses will show," she said.</p>
<p>But Board Member Lawrence Allen noted that every one of the constituents he has talked to on this issue wanted him to vote against the "strengths and weaknesses" language. And Board Member Bob Craig, in opposing Dunbar's statements, said, "Some (here) think they know better how to teach than the teachers."</p>
<p>It seems some board members even think they know more than the scientists. In October, Board Chairman Don McLeroy's commented that he does not believe in evolution, a statement that prompted more than 800 Texas scientists to form the 21st Century Science Coalition and prove him wrong.</p>
<p>"Not a single one [of the articles in these journals] gives us reason to believe evolution did not occur," Dan Bolnick, an assistant professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas told <a href="http://blog.au.org/2008/10/09/lone-star-assignment-texas-scientists-do-their-homework-to-get-sound-biology-education/"><em>The Statesman</em></a> in October. "So where are the weaknesses? Simple: They don't exist. They are not based on scientific research or data and have been refuted countless times."</p>
<p>Today's vote makes it clear that majority of the board does not want to use the Texas public school system as a vehicle for fundamentalist Christian ideas. Come March, let's hope Dunbar, McLeroy and the other creationist board members can give it up and realize Texas kids deserve better.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religion-public-schools-and-universities">Religion in Public Schools and Universities</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/creationism">creationism</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/science-standards">science standards</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/strengths-and-weaknesses">Strengths and Weaknesses</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/texas-state-board-education">Texas State Board of Education</a></span></div></div>Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:08:30 +0000Sandhya Bathija2324 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/passing-the-science-test-texas-school-board-derails-most-of-creationist#comments